Nature’s Antidepressant: Storms, the Sea, and the Quiet Power of HRV

Mother Earth's Lion's Breath

I’ve been wintering up my wardrobe lately—layers, hats, cute new rainboots—and literally leaning into storms and king tides. There’s something about big weather that calls me outside, especially to Mavericks.

On big-wave days at Mavericks, you don’t get to be distracted. The ocean commands your attention—partly out of survival (never turn your back on the sea, my friends!), but also because there’s something else happening out there. I’ve spent years in relationship with this place—the land, the water, the rhythm of it. I am not alone, people are called to this raw and rugged California surf mecca . When I sit on the beach, I become the beach. My mind fades. I feel vital, free, and completely at ease—part of something so much larger than the small “me.”

The other day, when a storm was at full tilt, the wind nearly knocked me over as I made my way to my spot. I felt the raw power of the elements—and all my quiet despair about life just… dissolved. I remember thinking, this is nature’s antidepressant.

Around that same time, I came across an Instagram post—not evidence-based, but intriguing—that told a story about a physiologist from Crete. According to the post, he studied local fishermen and noticed something unexpected: their heart rate variability (HRV)—often used as a marker of nervous system resilience and even longevity—was higher after stormy days, not calm ones.

HRV reflects how flexibly our autonomic nervous system responds to life. Higher HRV generally suggests greater parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) tone and resilience to stress. There is legitimate research showing that environmental factors—like weather patterns, atmospheric pressure, and geomagnetic conditions—can influence HRV. The fisherman story itself hasn’t been validated in the scientific literature, but it echoes something many of us feel intuitively.

One proposed explanation in that story was micro salt aerosols—tiny particles of sea mist generated when waves crash into rock. These aerosols are thought to interact with the respiratory system and may stimulate parasympathetic activity. There’s also a long-standing (and still debated) idea that negative ions, abundant near oceans, waterfalls, and storms, can rapidly boost mood—sometimes said to work faster than antidepressants. The science here is emerging and mixed, and some claims go beyond what research can currently confirm.

And yet.

A few days later, I found myself back at the ocean, near two “blow holes” carved into the cliffs—where powerful waves surge into sea caves and send plumes of salty mist into the air. The spray floated upward and into my lungs. We are from the sea, after all. Breathing that ocean air felt like coming home—one of the most alive sensations I know.

Do I need peer-reviewed evidence to validate this experience? No. But I do find it fascinating when science begins to circle experiences the body already understands.

So here’s my invitation—not as proof, but as practice.

If you’re curious about HRV, mood, and the power of wild nature, test the concept yourself. Go out to Mavericks on a big wave day. Stand at a safe distance. Feel the wind, the salt, the sound. Notice what happens in your body, your breath, your mind.

And if you’d like company, come out with me on January 17th for gentle movement and ocean therapy. We’ll meet the elements as they are—and let them meet us right where we are.

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Sometimes the medicine isn’t quiet or gentle.Sometimes it’s wind in your face, salt in your lungs, and the reminder that you belong to something vast, alive, and profoundly regulating.